WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:05.680 So, thank you for the introduction and thank  you to the organizers for allowing me the   00:00:05.680 --> 00:00:12.320 opportunity to present about our study today  which was funded by the NSF RAPID collaborative   00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:18.400 research program. The title of my talk is  “COVID-19, Human Milk, and Infant Feeding”.  00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:26.480 I'm presenting today on behalf of  a wonderful group of collaborators   00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:30.160 who I have the honor and privilege to  work with. I have collaborators here at   00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:34.320 the University of Idaho, and I believe  Dr. Ryan Pace is on the call as well,   00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:40.720 at Washington State University, University  of Washington, and Tulane University. 00:00:42.800 --> 00:00:46.400 The goals for our study was  to determine whether or not-   00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:53.120 if human milk is a potential mode of transmission  for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and also to examine   00:00:53.120 --> 00:00:57.840 antibody kinetics in breastfeeding and  non-breastfeeding women and their infants. 00:00:58.400 --> 00:01:03.600 So, to take a step backwards, why is this study  important? Well we knew back the start of the   00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:08.480 pandemic that some viruses like HIV can be  vertically transmitted or transmitted via   00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:14.640 human milk. And so, at the start of it if there  was a lot of uncertainty and so the initial   00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:20.320 response to the COVID-19 pandemic was that at  times and in several locations, women who were   00:01:20.320 --> 00:01:25.840 diagnosed with COVID-19 were separated from their  infants and also discouraged from breastfeeding. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:34.400 But this has important ramifications as you might  imagine, because human milk not only contains   00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:40.960 important nutrients and bioactive factors that  are important for the growth and development of   00:01:40.960 --> 00:01:46.720 infants, but also it contains important immune  factors that help protect from disease. And so   00:01:46.720 --> 00:01:53.840 research needed to be done to determine what were  the potential risks and benefits of breastfeeding?  00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:02.400 So, we designed a study in which we recruited  25 breastfeeding dyads, or mother infant pairs,   00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:08.480 and also, we were hoping to recruit  25 formula feeding dyads as well.   00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:17.600 Mothers- we recruited mothers who were diagnosed  within seven days of having their COVID diagnosis.   00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:23.920 We've met our target for the 25 breastfeeding  dyads, but unfortunately, we were not able to do-   00:02:23.920 --> 00:02:27.040 we have not met our target  for the formula feeding dyads,   00:02:27.040 --> 00:02:31.760 and so we have pivoted as we often have to  do in these COVID times and so we are now   00:02:31.760 --> 00:02:37.600 recruiting 25 breastfeeding dyads with mothers  who are healthy and who have not been sick.   00:02:39.440 --> 00:02:43.040 From these moms and from their  infants, we are collecting milk,   00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:49.520 breast swabs, blood spots, stool samples that are  collected seven times over two months, as well as   00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:55.760 information about maternal and infant health,  infant feeding practices and related behaviors. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:03.440 Our ongoing and planned analyses for these samples  are that we will be examining the milk, the   00:03:03.440 --> 00:03:10.240 breast swabs, and the stool for presence of the  SARS-CoV-2 RNA as well as looking at antibodies in   00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:15.600 both the milk and the blood and then relating this  with the information that we're also collecting   00:03:15.600 --> 00:03:22.960 to infant feeding mode as well as maternal COVID  status. These analyses are ongoing as well as our   00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:28.480 recruitment is ongoing but to present just a  little bit of the preliminary data or some of   00:03:28.480 --> 00:03:34.240 our preliminary findings, I can share with you  that from the milk samples we have not detected   00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:40.480 any SARS-CoV-2 RNA and this is consistent  with previous studies that have now since   00:03:40.480 --> 00:03:46.880 come out to show that milk does not appear to  be a vehicle for the transmission of the virus.   00:03:47.760 --> 00:03:53.440 This is good news for moms and infants and  so the CDC and the World Health Organization   00:03:53.440 --> 00:04:00.000 has changed their recommendations such that it  is now recommended that moms and infants should   00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:06.000 or that mom should continue to breastfeed even  if mom is COVID positive but using appropriate   00:04:07.440 --> 00:04:10.720 preventatives like washing  hands and wearing masks. 00:04:12.320 --> 00:04:16.240 So, I appreciate your time and once again  on behalf of all my collaborators I thank   00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:21.760 you for your attention and I thank you  to NSF for providing the funding for   00:04:21.760 --> 00:04:26.160 this information and I- if you have  any questions, I have my email here   00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:33.360 as well as emails for the four lead PIs at  each one of the institutions. Thank you.